Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
I. INTRODUCTION
2
a thorough understanding of the status of smart grid
development, the indicators are bound to the SMART-criteria,
meaning they have to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant and Time-bound [6].
These KPIs can serve multiple purposes. First of all, the list
of KPIs can become a tool for regulators to assess the progress
towards a smart grid both on a national and European level.
This can allow policy makers to elaborate proper incentives to
stimulate smart grid development. Moreover, the smartness of
the national or European grid can be evaluated and compared
with other countries or continents. Finally, the KPIs can be
applied to evaluate project results on smart grids. A clearly
defined framework can concretise where exactly the project
contributed to a smart electricity grid.
III. SMART GRID CHARACTERISTICS
In order to evaluate the smartness of the electricity grid,
KPIs are defined starting from the six defined characteristics
of an intelligent grid. Table 1 gives an overview of the
different KPIs specified to assess smart grid development.
Each characteristic consists out of several categories to which
different KPIs are assigned. In what follows a more in-depth
description of the various characteristics, categories and KPIs
is given.
A. Enable Informed Participation by Customers
In a smart electricity system, customers become an integral
part of the electric power system. An intelligent grid allows
the customers to take new choices resulting from new
technologies, new information about electricity consumption,
and new ways of electricity pricing. Five categories are
defined to measure the progress of the electricity grid on this
characteristic.
Advanced Meters
Advanced metering is a key technology to enable the
informed participation of a customer. By installing advanced
metering infrastructure, bi-directional communication ensures
that energy consumption data, grid conditions, and real-time
price information can be exchanged between the different
parties. To measure progress in this area, two KPIs are defined
in Table 1. These KPIs describe the penetration level of and
the load that is served with advanced meter infrastructure.
This allows to track the current implementation and evolution
of those meters.
Dynamic Pricing Signals
Dynamic pricing signals give customers the opportunity to
participate in the electric power systems. Real-Time-Pricing
(RTP) tariffs are transmitted to the customers (residential,
industrial, commercial), who can make informed decisions
resulting in greater demand response. Table 1 states two KPIs
that describe the penetration level of dynamic pricing signals
from two points of view: the customers and the actual loads
served by dynamic pricing structures.
Smart Appliances
Smart appliances can respond to the dynamic needs of a
smart grid. They use software to communicate with the grid,
TABLE
Characteristics, Categories, and Key Performance Indicators of a Smart Electricity Grid
Enable informed participation by customers
1A: Number of advanced meters installed
Advanced Meters
Dynamic Pricing Signals
Smart Appliances
Demand Side Management
Prosumer
DER Interconnection
Sell more than kWhs
New Energy Services
Flexibility
Customer Choice
Support Mechanisms
6C: Indirect electrical energy storage through the use of heat pumps: time shift allowed for heating/cooling [h]
7A: The total number and percentage shares of on-road light-duty vehicles, comprising PHEVs
7B: Percentage of the charging capacity of the vehicles that can be controlled (versus the charging capacity of the vehicles or the total
power capacity of the grid) [MW/MW]
7C: Percentage of the stored energy in vehicles that can be controlled (versus the available energy in the vehicles or the total energy
consumption in the grid) [MWh/MWh]
7D: Number of charging points that are provided to charge the vehicles
8A: The percentage of grid operators with standard distributed resource interconnection policies
9A: Number of customers served by ESCOs
9B: Number of additional energy services offered to the consumer
9C: Number of kWh that the consumer saves in comparison to the consumption before the energy service
10A: The number of customers offering flexibility to aggregators
10B: The flexibility that aggregators can offer to other market players [MWh]
10C: The time that aggregators can offer a certain flexibility [h]
10D: To what extent are storage and DG able to provide ancillary services as a percentage of the total offered ancillary services
10E: Percentage of storage and DG that can be modified vs. total storage and DG [MW/MW]
11A: Number of tariff plans available to end consumers
12A: The average percentage of smart grid investment that can be recovered through rates or subsidies
12B: The percentage of smart grid investment covered by external financing
13A: The weighted average maturity level of interoperability realised among electricity system stakeholders
18B: Percentage of kilometers of transmission circuits operated under dynamic line ratings [km]
18C: Yearly average transmission transfer capacity expansion due to the use of dynamic (versus fixed) line ratings [MW-km]
19A: Yearly average and peak generation capacity factor (%)
19B: Yearly average and average peak capacity factor for a typical kilometer of transmission line (%-km per km)
19C: Yearly average and average peak distribution transformer capacity factor (%)
20A: Efficiency of generation facilities [energy output (MWh) / energy input (MWh)]
20B: Energy losses in transmission and distribution [MWh/year]
Standards in telecommunication
infrastructure
PHEVs
PHEVs are hybrid electric vehicles with batteries that can
be recharged when plugged into an external electric power
source. This allows customers to recharge their vehicles
during off-peak hours and to sell energy to the grid operators
during peak hours when prices are high. This helps reducing
the peak load and thus also the cost of the power provided.
Such behaviour should be enabled by the smart grid. The KPIs
defined in this area evaluate the penetration of PHEVs and the
extend in which the charging of those can be controlled.
DER Interconnection
Distributed Energy Resources (DER) consist of DG, the
storage of electrical and thermal energy and/or flexible loads.
These resources are rapidly integrating into the electricity
system, therefore standard distributed resource interconnection
policies should be designed. This way, easier and more
consistent integration of DER is accomplished and the
progress towards an intelligent grid is facilitated. European
legislation, setting up these standards, is necessary to
accommodate all generation and storage options. Table 1
shows one KPI that measures the extent to which standard
interconnection policies are used in order to facilitate
integration of DER and use them in an effective way.
C.
Customer Choice
In a smart grid context, customers can choose between
different types of supply (green energy, lowest cost,). Each
type of supply corresponds with a tariff plan offered to the end
consumer. The KPI in this area gives an indication of the
degree of customer choice that a smart electricity market
makes possible.
Support Mechanisms
A smart grid holds great potential for enabling new
products, services and markets. Because this incorporates
investments and risks, public and private interests should
support the evolution towards a smart grid. A regulatory
framework should stimulate smart grid behaviour and
appropriate funding should be found for encouraging the
proper integration of the new products and markets. Table 1
defines two KPIs that assess the extent to which smart grid
investments are supported by public or private funding.
Public funding can be installed by developing an adequate
regulatory framework. In this case, investments in an
intelligent grid can be recovered by raising the tariffs or by
receiving subsidies. Private support can be measured by the
available external financing for smart grid investments.
Interoperability Maturity Level
Open architectures and standards are a prerequisite to the
success of new market creation in the electricity system. When
implementing new products and services, alignment is needed
on a technical, informational, and business level to ensure the
interoperability among electricity system stakeholders.
Measures of openness or standard adoption are difficult to
obtain, therefore a European smart grid Interoperability
Maturity Model (IMM) should be developed. This approach is
based on the concepts derived from the software capability
maturity model [8]. The concept is integrated in the KPI for
measuring the progress of interoperability. Although this is an
adequate indicator in this area, the use of this KPI depends on
the development of a smart grid IMM.
D.
5
two KPIs stated in Table 1 should be kept in bound. These
quantify the power quality of the electricity grid.
Required Power Quality
Not all customers (industrial, commercial, residential) need
the same power quality. For example, power quality affects
residential and industrial customers on a different level. A
smart grid can provide different power qualities coupled with
several pricing levels to the different end-consumers. One KPI
is defined to describes the variation of delivered power quality
to customers. This is determined by two parameters for power
quality, namely the frequency and the voltage level. Each
power quality level is accompanied by a pricing level. The
more a grid operator can offer different pricing levels, the
smarter the operation of the electricity grid.
Microgrids
A microgrid consists out of an integrated distribution
system with interconnected loads and DER which operates
connected to the main power grid [5]. It has the ability to be
islanded from the main power grid with coordinated control,
providing sources of reliable power quality. Due to the
growing attention in microgrids in some European countries,
this category is represented in this paper. Table 1 states KPIs
that measure the penetration level of microgrids in an
intelligent grid based on three areas: the number, the absolute
capacity, and the relative capacity of microgrids.
E.
Optimise Assets and Operate Efficiently
On average, the European electricity grid is around 40 years
old [10]. While these ageing assets obviously need to be
reinforced or replaced with new investments, the options of
further developing the grid need to be well chosen. When
replacing existing assets, one should take into account the
flexibility towards further developments. If the existing assets
are maintained advanced materials, equipment, and
information and communication technologies can be used to
optimise the existing assets. The following list of categories is
identified to cover the progress in this area.
T&D Automation
In a smart grid, automation occurs at all levels of the
electricity grid from transmission to end-user. This way,
components are monitored, coordinated and operated from
remote locations. State-of-the-art power technologies are used
to operate the system closer to its capacity and stability
constraints, eventually leading to a more efficient operation of
the electricity grid. Table 1 defines one KPI that measures the
penetration of T&D automation in the electricity system.
Before analysing this KPI, an adequate definition of
automation should be developed. Different technologies
should be captured by this definition: Supervisory Control &
Data Acquisition (SCADA) technologies, remote sensors and
monitors, switches, and digital relays are some examples
though a rise of new technologies can be expected. When
these new technologies become available, these should be
included in the description of T&D automation.
Dynamic Line Rating
Dynamic line ratings form a tool for enhancing the capacity
of the electrical grid. It uses actual weather conditions, surface
Advanced Sensors
A smart grid uses tools for improved observability on
network interactions to construct realistic pictures of the state
of the electric system increasing situational awareness.
Therefore Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) are
incorporated. These systems apply advanced-technology
infrastructure that is used for an increased observability of the
electricity grid. This leads to an increased situational
awareness with a level of exploitation closer to stability limits
and an improved control of the network. Problems can be
tracked and solved in a rapid and efficient way, making the
grid less susceptible to disturbances. In order to quantify
progress in this area, Table 1 states three KPIs that measure
the penetration of advanced sensors in the electricity system.
Information Exchange
The integration of advanced sensors throughout the
6
electricity grid makes the development of an information
architecture indispensible. System status information should
be exchanged between all relevant market players.
Information exchange between national TSOs, day-to-day data
exchanges between the TSO and DSO, and an interconnected
information process between the customers and the grid
should be set in place in order to counter any disturbances.
Three KPIs are defined that assess the integration of
information exchange mechanisms in the electricity system.
This is divided according to the quantity and the quality of
data sharing.
T&D Reliability
As well as in a traditional electricity grid, reliability is one
of the key aspects of a smart electricity grid. In all
circumstances, the reliability has to be assured. An indication
of reliability can be retrieved from the widely applied metrics
SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), SAIFI
(System Average Interruption Frequency Index), CAIDI
(Customer Average Interruption Duration Index) and MAIFI
(Momentary Average Interruption Frequency Index). These
KPIs give an indication of the reliability of the electricity
system.
Standards in telecommunication infrastructures
Because of the high interconnected nature of the
communication standards, European standards for monitoring,
controlling and automation become necessary. European
standards in line with the on-going National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) [11] approach in the US
should be specified to avoid all kind of malfunctions in the
electricity grid. Table 1 defines one KPI that determines the
penetration level of overall telecommunication standards and
protocols in the electricity system.
IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER
RESEARCH
The defined methodology consists out of six characteristics,
each accompanied by several KPIs which measure the
smartness of the grid. In order to make the KPIs applicable for
evaluation, they were constructed based on the SMARTcriteria. Heading towards a smart electricity grid, policy
makers should encourage progress in all six characteristics.
Failure to meet one or more of the characteristics, limits the
total benefits of a transition towards an intelligent grid.
After the methodology is developed, research is needed to
attain the necessary data & information. Workshops,
interviews, surveys, studies, and research of existing literature
are essential for the succeeding of this exercise. This is a
challenging opportunity, because the whole value chain of the
electricity market should be involved to catch the adequate
information. Some data on KPIs are easy to track, whereas the
finding of other data experiences some counteractions,
especially due to the relative newness of the smart grid.
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all